Adriatic region in 2023: Technology trends seen in the market

In the past year, the security technology industry has undergone significant changes at the global level. The echo of this tide has also shaped the dominant trends in the regional sector. Through the statements of leading experts, we will look at the key technological innovations that, according to them, marked the year 2023 on the regional market.
 

Focus on cost reduction and energy challenges

 
Tsing Tang, Director of Eastern Europe at Uniview Technologies, predicts that in 2024 the focus will shift to wireless solutions in security systems. This change will include a triad of Wi-Fi cameras, and cloud and mobile applications, which will offer a reduction in total costs and easier installation to their users. Uniview is preparing for these trends by expanding its product portfolio to include wireless solutions that should bring more favorable total cost savings to users compared to traditional analog and wired IP solutions. This especially applies to solutions for smaller businesses, as well as home products for smart homes. Among the latter, solutions that will enable simpler storage of energy at a time of higher energy prices will be in higher demand. Uniview will therefore focus its efforts on promoting systems like Hopetrek, which includes a portable charger (power bank), energy storage for residential environments, and industrial and commercial energy storage solutions. The new storage system will also have an integrated computer, battery unit, BMS, EMS, fire protection system, and temperature control system.
 

Investing in cyber protection and edge-based data processing

 
Another important trend is the ubiquitous use of the cloud, which has led to a large-scale opening to the internet and significantly strengthened the associated risks of cyber-attacks on the entire spectrum of security systems. The increased threat now also entails large investments in cyber protection. This is significantly influenced by the trend of transnational legal regulation of this field through new directives that all EU members will have to implement starting January 1, 2025, including NIS2.
 
The third indicator of the direction in which the industry is moving is the increasingly advanced possibilities of integration and performance of actions at the edge or in the device itself, including cameras, radars, thermal cameras, a combination of radars and cameras, etc. These solutions are now more in demand than ever and will shape the direction of the security sector. With greater generation of data and metadata at the edge, the demand for cloud-based platforms is also growing. They will manage all metadata from the camera that goes to cloud services simply and efficiently, with the help of the most accessible and user-friendly interfaces.
 
Finally, Danijel Jerković, CEO for South East Adria – Safety Solutions at Bosch Building Technologies – Security Systems, puts machine learning next to AI in terms of technological importance, noting that we should not forget the Internet of Things and blockchain as well.
 

AI dominance and user focus

For Stjepan Šurmanović, South East Europe Key Account Manager at Axis Communications, and his colleague, Andrej Ćuraković, Sales Director for Balkans and Middle Europe, Video Security and Access Control at Avigilon, AI technology marked the year 2023 as a key security trend. This technological breakthrough includes a shift from traditional motion detectors to AI-based event detectors, enabling advanced analytics and personalization solutions. "Artificial intelligence has finally replaced the now outdated event detectors based on standard motion detection, which relied on changes in pixels within the image", says Šurmanović.
 
Đorđe Baćić, Business Development Manager at VIVOTEK, emphasizes the importance of investing in AI functions to improve user experience. The focus on deep search functions based on this technology provides new opportunities in event investigation, and faster search and response, which is the first step towards automating security systems.
 
Ilia Yashmakov, Sales Director for Balkans & Adriatic at Ajax Systems, supports the thesis of the growing importance of user experience, noting that this is not limited to new technologies. Regardless of whether it pertains to anti-burglary or any other security domain, this company views the popularization of the approach that prioritizes "the user is king" as a key future trend. This will, according to Yashmakov, drive the security market in the next five to ten years.
 

Cloud solutions will strengthen the security culture

 
At Avigilon, they point out global and regional migration towards cloud solutions as an important technological trend in the year ahead. Cloud solutions are becoming the basis of comprehensive security systems because they offer reliability and readiness to face future challenges. "It will be a way for organizations to ensure that their solutions for video security and access control remain equipped with the most innovative capabilities and intelligent analytics, which will help them build a resilient security culture," says Ćuraković.
 
Jerković from Bosch believes that the broader picture of technological developments in the region must include "improvements in various applications, remote connectivity with systems, and progressive data storage in the cloud within the industry". According to him, the regional security landscape significantly shapes the development of the startup ecosystem, the rise of e-commerce, and the increasing digitization of public services.
 
Uniview has also joined this technological trend and redesigned its cloud platform in 2023 to feature new data transfer strategies that focus on the prevention of network congestion and data packet loss.

The regional security landscape significantly shapes the development of the startup ecosystem, the rise of e-commerce, and the increasing digitization of public services.

 

Centralization and versatility

 
Kinga Zarzycka, GM of Distribution Business Unit at ZKTeco Europe, notices a growing demand for versatile access control solutions that meet an ever-widening range of customer needs. ZKTeco recognizes technologies such as facial recognition, proximity cards, and reading palms or fingerprints as dominant trends in this segment.
 

For 2024, Vito Lalić, MOBOTIX Business Development Manager for Adria Region at Konica Minolta, predicts a growth in the demand for system centralization in physical protection. This is a consequence of the users’ need to integrate different systems, for which MOBOTIX offers solutions such as the open platform VMS and the PSIM platform for unifying systems in one place. "Users who have haphazardly invested in physical protection systems of various brands for years are now facing more problems as their business grows and they now aim for centralization," says Lalić.
 
In the end, it can be concluded that the year 2023 on the regional market was marked by technological progress, especially in the segment of artificial intelligence, migration to the cloud, access control with a wider field of application, and energy sustainability. What is encouraging is the swift mirroring of global trends within the regional market, indicating the dynamism of its development and technological and business integration with the global security industry.

In 2024, the demand for system centralization in the physical protection segment is predicted to grow as a result of the user's need for the integration of different systems.